Aames Financial Corp

Aames Financial Corp. said directors Gerald Ford and Howard Gittis--who joined when financier Ronald Perelman and Ford bought 9.9% of the consumer finance company--quit last week. Los Angeles-based Aames also said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the lender "is currently in discussions with several entities, including Golden State Bancorp Inc., concerning various alternatives." Perelman and Ford, partners in Golden State Bank, in March agreed to buy 2.

Cutting costs in reaction to a tough mortgage market, Los Angeles-based sub-prime lender Aames Investment Corp. said Monday that it would close offices in Deerfield, Fla., and Parsippany, N.J., and eliminate 100 jobs in its wholesale lending division, which makes loans through mortgage brokers. Aames, a specialist in higher-cost loans to borrowers with imperfect credit, also is changing its corporate structure so the parent company is no longer a real estate investment trust.

Aames Financial Corp. said its board appointed financial services veteran A. Jay Meyerson as chief executive of the subprime home-equity lender. "The appointment of Jay is the last phase of a management transition plan that ensured a seamless and orderly succession," said Mani Sadeghi, an Aames director who has been acting as interim chief executive since May. Meyerson, 52, most recently served as a managing director at KPMG national financial services' consulting practice.

Aames Financial Corp. shareholders filed a lawsuit claiming insiders sold $24.3 million of Aames shares before announcing changes that prompted the stock to fall. The suit, filed in Superior Court in Los Angeles, claims that four Aames executives--including Chairman Gary Judis--sold a combined 608,050 shares in the company earlier this year after making a major change in corporate policy but before making it public several months later.

Shares of Aames Financial Corp. rose $1.63 to $23.25 on the New York Stock Exchange after a published report said that two savings and loans were planning separate efforts to acquire the Los Angeles-based sub-prime lender. American Banker, a financial trade publication, said that California Federal Savings Bank of San Francisco and Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc.

Aames Financial Corp. said it promoted Chief Operating Officer Cary Thompson to chief executive and named Vice Chairman Neil Kornswiet president to replace Chairman Gary Judis in those posts. Judis, 58, has been chairman, chief executive and president of the Los Angeles-based mortgage lender and financial services company since 1982. Aames said the moves allow Judis to focus his attention on the broader strategic issues confronting the company.

Aames Financial Corp. said its board appointed financial services veteran A. Jay Meyerson as chief executive of the subprime home-equity lender. "The appointment of Jay is the last phase of a management transition plan that ensured a seamless and orderly succession," said Mani Sadeghi, an Aames director who has been acting as interim chief executive since May. Meyerson, 52, most recently served as a managing director at KPMG national financial services' consulting practice.

Leading home-equity lender Aames Financial Corp. said Monday it will acquire One Stop Mortgage Inc., a rapidly growing Costa Mesa firm specializing in riskier mortgages, in a deal worth about $129 million. One Stop will become a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Aames as part of the transaction, another sign of continuing consolidation in the "nonbank" lending industry.

In what Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman heralded Wednesday as a "wake-up call" for employers, Texaco Inc. agreed to pay $3.1 million to 186 female managers who earned less than men doing similar work. The agreement set a record for Labor Department "glass ceiling" investigations involving sexual discrimination, although it is smaller than some other recent landmark cases, including a $176-million settlement that White Plains, N.Y.

Aames Financial Corp. said directors Gerald Ford and Howard Gittis--who joined when financier Ronald Perelman and Ford bought 9.9% of the consumer finance company--quit last week. Los Angeles-based Aames also said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the lender "is currently in discussions with several entities, including Golden State Bancorp Inc., concerning various alternatives." Perelman and Ford, partners in Golden State Bank, in March agreed to buy 2.

Aames Financial Corp. shareholders filed a lawsuit claiming insiders sold $24.3 million of Aames shares before announcing changes that prompted the stock to fall. The suit, filed in Superior Court in Los Angeles, claims that four Aames executives--including Chairman Gary Judis--sold a combined 608,050 shares in the company earlier this year after making a major change in corporate policy but before making it public several months later.

In a boost for the struggling downtown Los Angeles office market, fast-growing Aames Financial Corp. said Thursday that it will move its headquarters into a gleaming Bunker Hill skyscraper, one of the largest corporate relocations into the area in recent years. The 15-year lease for seven floors of space at Two California Plaza will bring an estimated 700 workers to downtown Los Angeles, which has lost numerous corporate headquarters over the years as a result of mergers and cutbacks.

Shares of Aames Financial Corp. rose $1.63 to $23.25 on the New York Stock Exchange after a published report said that two savings and loans were planning separate efforts to acquire the Los Angeles-based sub-prime lender. American Banker, a financial trade publication, said that California Federal Savings Bank of San Francisco and Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc.

Aames Financial Corp. said it promoted Chief Operating Officer Cary Thompson to chief executive and named Vice Chairman Neil Kornswiet president to replace Chairman Gary Judis in those posts. Judis, 58, has been chairman, chief executive and president of the Los Angeles-based mortgage lender and financial services company since 1982. Aames said the moves allow Judis to focus his attention on the broader strategic issues confronting the company.